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Western novelist Jack Schaefer's follow-up to SHANE, THE SILVER WHIP is turned into a "shaky A" with Dale Robertson, Rory Calhoun, and Robert Wagner in the lead as an ambitious young stage driver. While this black-and-white effort lacks the visual grandeur of George Stevens' masterpiece, and the cast all right. and.... well, this is a good B western, with some nice outdoor photography by Lloyd Ahern Sr.

Director Harmon Jones doesn't seem to push anyone too hard, but it's a well-told story. It's clear they were feeling ambitious with this one. They screenplay is pretty good. I's simply that they chose to tell the story with melodramatic intentions, rather than the simple way that George Stevens' masterpiece did.

Three of the stars became major television stars as well. And Rory Calhoun, Dale Robertson, and Robert Wagner made an excellent trio.

Accompanied by two of the loveliest ladies, Lola Albright and Kathleen Crowley, as well as by some un-credited high-caliber performers such as the great John Doucette, George Cheesbro, and Edmund Cobb, they give us a tense western drama.

Anger and revenge for cold-blooded killing always make for drama, and usually the audience, the viewers know which side to take. Here, though, there becomes a question of the right and wrong of lynch law. Who will defend the "official" law, and who will support the old "eye for an eye" law?

The denouement is not what we expect.

Until then, we are torn, because all the protagonists are good people and it is hard to decide for whom to root.

Un-billed is Chuck Connors, but billed is the superb James Millican, as is J.M. Kerrigan in an undemanding but literate and important role.

"The Silver Whip" is available at YouTube and I highly recommend it.

Robert Wagner, thirty years before Hart to Hart. Here, he's young Jess Harker, waiting to leave his quiet little hometown, in one of his early roles. the stagecoach company lets him drive the stage, but of course, there will be obstacles along the way. when they get held up, they go after the gang. co-stars Dale Robertson and Rory Calhoun. Some scenes filmed in the hills east of modesto. GIANT trees on the ponderosa. Directed by Harmon Jones.. his first film as director was As Young As You Feel, with some huge hollywood names; he directed a bunch of big films, but moved into Television pretty quickly. It's good! no real surprises, but it's good.

Frustrated with the lack of opportunities in his hometown, young Jess Harker( Robert Wagner) plans to leave, but sympathetic stagecoach armed guard Race Crim (Dale Robertson) persuades his boss to give Jess the stage driver job. He accepts and gives the kid a chance to drive the stagecoach's main-line carrying $27000 dollars in gold dust and two important passengers. Crim rides as a guard, but when they arrive at a waystation, a gang of outlaws is waiting to ambush the coach. Jess panics and disobeys orders, resulting in the death of both coach passengers and the theft of the gold. Crim's love is among the dead, and he swears vengeance on Slater's gang, heading off after them. Jess is ordered back, but instead joins the posse led by Rory Calhoun's sheriff Tom Davisson, eager to make up for his mistakes. Crim however has turned vigilante, and shows no mercy for Slater's men as a hunts them down, before Tom and Jess apprehend Slater before Crim can hang him. Tom wants justice done, but not the frontier justice that the townsfolk have in mind, and as tensions simmer, friends will clash as doing the right thing becomes the unpopular option.

A fresh-faced Robert Wagner does well as a cocky man who soon goes through trial and tribulations before growing up and becoming someone, and that with the help of Dale Robertson and Rory Calhoun who both went on to have a successful career in westerns. Dale Robertson went on to make Tales of Wells Fargo. This western has plenty of Stagecoach chases, shootouts and they are quite excitingly shot, which gives this decent western a boost. Characterisation is fine, too.

This film essentially begins with a young man by the name of "Jess Harker" (Robert Wagner) finally getting the opportunity to prove his mettle by driving the local stagecoach which, in this particular case, is also transporting a valuable shipment of gold as part of its cargo. For that reason, another cowboy named "Race Crim" (Dale Robertson)--who happens to be Jess Harker's friend and mentor-has also been tasked to ride alongside the stagecoach as well. Not only that but Race's girlfriend named "Waco" (Lola Albright) just happens to be riding in the stagecoach as a passenger. So, making sure the stage arrives safely and on time is extremely important to both Jess and Race. However, this becomes quite problematic once news of the gold shipment gets out as some local bandits quickly a devise a scheme to ambush the stage and steal the gold. Unfortunately, while carrying out their plan, they not only steal the gold but also accidentally kill Waco in the process. As might be expected, this infuriates Race who immediately off in search of these bandits with the intention of killing each and every one of them. The problem, however, is that the local sheriff named "Tom Davisson" (Rory Calhoun) wants them all brought back alive to stand trial. That being the case, this not only puts Race at odds with Sheriff Davisson, but it also places Jess in an awkward position as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a solid 50's Western which benefited by good performances by all of the aforementioned actors. Admittedly, it is somewhat tame by today's standards but, even so, I enjoyed this film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.